Ensuring Success

8/8/2019 Ensuring Success

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COPYRIGHT 1996 PARTNERS FOR PROGRESS AND QUALITY TRANSFORMATION SERVICE 1

ENSURING SUCCESS: A MODEL FOR SELF-MANAGED TEAMS

LORI L. SILVERMAN, OWNER

Partners for Progress

Madison, WI 53704-4304

(608) 241.8082 (phone)

[email protected] (e-mail)

ANNABETH L. PROPST, OWNER

Quality Transformation Services

St. Charles, IL 60175

(630) 443.8132 (phone)

[email protected] (e-mail)

ABSTRACT/INTRODUCTION

Over the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about the benefits of self-managed teams

(also known as self-directed teams, natural teams, or semiautonomous work groups). Everyone

seems to want some form of them in their organization. A number of books and articles have been

written on the subject since they were first introduced in the 1940s as a method of employee

involvement. They typically list the activities and steps the organization should follow to develop

self-managed teams, outline the skills required of team leaders and team members, and describe

the phases an organization goes through to achieve its objective of employing self-managed teams.

These books and articles contain good ideas and useful information, yet many organizations

do not have fully functioning self-managed teams. Why is this? We believe it is due, in part, to

the lack of a model that describes the roles of self-managed teams within organizations. This

paper introduces such a model that includes the following roles:

s Uphold organizational and personal values and principles;

s Accomplish the team's work;

s Organize the team's work environment;

s Manage the team's work processes;

s Participate in organization-wide systems;s Participate in organization-wide strategies; and

s Manage team processes.

Below we describe the types of responsibilities that are a part of each role and how each role fits

within the overall work of the organization. In addition, we provide steps for introducing your

organization and your work group to this model.


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WHAT IS A SELF-MANAGED TEAM?

Even though the terms "self-managed" and "self-directed" are used frequently, they are rarely

defined. As several authors have noted, there is no such thing as a typical self-managed team

(Holpp, 1993, Shonk, 1992). Yet, it has been our experience that having a common definition

can serve as a framework for discussion and dialogue on this topic.In 1990, Development Dimensions International, the Association for Quality and

Participation, andIndustry Week conducted a study on the current practice surrounding self-

directed teams. The study defined a self-directed team as

"a group of employees who have day-to-day responsibility for managing themselves and thework they do. Members of self-directed teams typically handle job assignments, plan andschedule work, make production-related decisions, and take action on problems. Members ofself-directed teams work with a minimum of direct supervision. As such, the teams are notquality circles or cross-functional task groups. ... [T]hese teams are characterized by:s Face-to-face interaction in natural work groups;s Responsibility for producing a definable product;s Responsibility for a set of interdependent tasks; ands Control over managing and executing tasks." (page 4)

This definition outlines the "end state" to which work groups evolve when they are labeled as

self-managed teams. However, organizations need to understand theprocess surrounding how

teams become self-managed over time. Zawacki and Norman (1994) suggest that successful self-

managed teams evolve through five stages. These are:

s Stage 1: The typical hierarchical structure where the leader provides one-on-one

supervision;

s Stage 2: The leader evolves into a group manager whose role is making the transition

into team coordinator/coach;

s Stage 3: The group manager becomes the team coordinator and provides a structure for

self-managed team members to receive the necessary training to take on more leadership

tasks;

s Stage 4: The team assumes most of the duties previously reserved for the group manager,

who now becomes a boundary interface; and

s Stage 5: The group manager (i.e., the team coordinator) is a resource for the team.

We concur with Zawacki and Norman (1994) that a typical organization can have self-managed

teams in each of these five stages at various times. Teams can (and will) revert back to earlierstages as team membership changes over time. In addition, it is our experience that a team may

operate in a different stage in each of the seven roles. For example, a team could be performing

Stage 3 responsibilities within the role "accomplishing the work" and Stage 1 responsibilities

within the role "participating in organization-wide strategies."

What rationale does an organization use to move its teams from Stage 1 through to Stage 5?

First and foremost is the desire to promote customer satisfaction. As a team moves toward Stage


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5, members typically receive customer requirements and feedback directly, rather than filtered

through a supervisor. Team members are also able to use this first-hand information to respond

appropriately to customers and thus continually increase their own learning over time. In

addition, the cycle time for making on-the-spot customer-related decisions is shortened.

A second reason organizations move toward self-managed teams is the desire to promoteemployee satisfaction. Human potential has the opportunity to be cultivated and exercised to its

fullest extent as team members take on additional roles and responsibilities.

Finally, moving teams from Stage 1 to Stage 5 allows organizations to be more proactive. It

releases individuals from first-line supervisor roles that are typically reactive in nature and frees

them up to engage in future-oriented work that encourages organizational growth.

From our perspective, an inappropriate rationale for initiating self-managed teams is the

removal of a layer of management as a means of cost containment. If this is the case, then senior

management needs to be educated on the future role of today's first-line supervisors which we

believe is more closely related to the other side of the profitability equation (i.e., the production

of revenue).

Although we recognize the potential value of self-managed teams, it is also important to keep

in mind that self-management is not an appropriate objective for all work groups in all

organizations.

"Autonomous work group designs are best suited to situations in which there are no majorbarriers to sharing knowledge among all group members and tasks are routine. ... This kindof environment allows group members to acquire skills from one another and to gain masteryover task performance. [T]asks which are unstable and require the application of a widerange of highly specialized skills or knowledge are not usually conducive to group self-regulation. ... [S]elf-regulation cannot occur effectively since each group member has littleinfluence over the others and little knowledge of the others specialties (Pasmore, 1988, 33)."

What these statements imply is that temporary teams, committees, or task forces that come

together briefly to address a specific issue, problem or challenge are not suited for self-

management. These include flight crews on an aircraft, surgical operating teams in a hospital,

and emergency response teams that respond to a disaster situation.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF SELF-MANAGED TEAMS

Several authors speak to the responsibilities of self-managed teams (e.g., Holpp, 1993; Wellins,

et. al., 1991). They suggest that the responsibilities a team takes on are a function of the amountof empowerment the team has and the skill and task progression of its members.

We believe that work groups have seven broad areas of responsibility or roles

regardless of which stage of self-management they have reached (see Figure 1).

These roles provide a common context within which all work groups in an organization can

operate on a daily basis. The specific responsibilities housed inside each role do change,


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however. These responsibilities, and the rigor with which they are carried out, are related to the

five stages of self-management.

Collectively, the seven roles support an organization's culture and the three streams of work

that occur within the organization. Culture is defined here as

"a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems ofexternal adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to beconsidered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way toperceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Schein, 1992)."

There are two roles for self-managed teams that support the organization's culture. These are

"uphold organizational and personal values and principles" and "manage team processes."

An organization's culture influences and is influenced by three streams of work in an

organization. These three streams are mission-directed, vision-directed, and linkage-directed

work (Silverman, 1995). Mission-directed work flows from the organization's mission. Mission

refers to "a broadly defined but enduring statement of purpose that distinguishes a business from

other firms of its type and identifies the scope of its operation in product and market terms"

Manage

Team

Processes

Accomplish

the Team's

Work

Participate in

Organization-Wide

Strategies

Organize the

Team's Work

Environment

Participate in

Organization-Wide

Systems

Manage the

Team's WorkProcesses

Figure 1: Self-Managed Team Roles


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(Pearce, 1982). Mission-directed work focuses on what needs to be done today and includes

activities that service current customers, products/services, and markets. There are three roles

for self-managed teams that are an outgrowth of mission-directed work. They are

"accomplish the team's work," "organize the team's work environment," and "manage the

team's work processes."Vision-directed work flows from the organization's vision. Vision is defined here as "a

mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization ... (which) articulates a

view of a realistic, credible, attractive future for the organization, a condition that is better in

some important ways than what now exists" (Bennis and Nanus, 1985).Vision-directed work

encompasses strategic management activities that address breakthroughs for the organization and

focus on customers, products/services, and markets that do not exist today. Vision-directed work

creates one role for self-managed teams. It is "participate in organization-wide strategies."

Vision-directed and mission-directed work occur in parallel and, consequently pull from the

same resource pool (i.e., people, time, dollars, etc.) within the organization. Therefore, a third

stream of work is required. Linkage-directed work includes those organization-wide processes

and activities that tie together these other two streams of work. In addition, it encompasses

activities that help the organization to understand how it functions as a total system. There is one

self-managed team role that is created by this stream of work. It is "participate in organization-

wide systems."

The next section of this paper describes the seven team roles and how they fit within the

overall work of the organization (i.e., is the role related to the organization's culture or is it a part

of one of the three streams of work). It further enumerates some of the responsibilities that maybe found within each role. These responsibilities typically emerge during Stages 3, 4, or 5 in the

evolutionary sequence.

Uphold Organizational and Personal Values and Principles

The role "uphold organizational and personal values and principles" is the first of two roles that

have an impact on and are impacted by the organization's culture. (The second role is "manage

team processes.") Values are defined as fundamental ideals that define the boundaries of

acceptable behaviors and decisions; principles (or guiding principles) are a set of beliefs that

orient conduct (Silverman, 1995). Examples of responsibilities that fall under this role include:s Exhibiting behaviors that are consistent with organizational and personal values and

principles;

s Making decisions grounded in organizational and personal values and principles;

s Communicating organizational values and principles to customers and suppliers;

s Communicating personal values and principles to team members; and


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s Addressing conflicts between personal and organizational values and principles with team

members.

Accomplish the Team's Work

"Accomplish the team's work" is the first of three roles that falls under mission-directed work.

(The other two roles are "organize the team's work environment" and "manage the team's work

processes.") In order to effectively carry out this role, team members need to have a common

understanding of the team's work processes and the activities within each process. Examples of

responsibilities that are a part of this role include:

s Identifying what work the team needs to do;

s Prioritizing the work so it can be accomplished within agreed-upon timelines;

s Deciding who does the work;

s Scheduling the work;

s

Obtaining the necessary resources to do the work;s Doing the work within agreed-upon timelines while meeting identified customers'

requirements;

s Collecting data about the work;

s Interpreting data about the work; and

s Taking appropriate action based on that data.

Organize the Team's Work Environment

"Organize the team's work environment" is the second role to fall under mission-directed work.

It promotes a systematic approach for effectively organizing and managing a team's total work

environment and is based on the Japanese "5 S" methodology (see Hirano, 1995 and Osada,

1991). Organizations such as Boeing and Boise Cascade have discovered this approach to be

extremely effective. Examples of responsibilities that fall under this role include:

s Sorting the necessary from the unnecessary within the work environment;

s Simplifying access to ensure there is a place for everything and everything is in its proper

place;

s Sweeping both visually and physically to ensure safety, order, cleanliness, and routine

maintenance has occurred;

s Standardizing the organization of the work area within and across groups to make iteasier to visually sweep and recognize where everything is; and

s Self discipline in the ongoing study and reorganization of the work environment, as well

as following through on all 5 S agreements.


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Manage the Team's Work Processes

"Manage the team's work processes" is the third role that falls under mission-directed work.

Examples of responsibilities that fall under this role include:

s Identifying the work processes that are the responsibility of the team;

s Creating a standard method for carrying out each work process, based on customers'requirements, that includes a plan for monitoring process performance over time;

s Continually improving how the work is done;

s Addressing problems that arise;

s Identifying opportunities for innovation;

s Sharing work process information with others throughout the organization; and

s Training team members on the team's work processes and related topics.

In order to understand these roles, it is important to distinguish between four methods for

designing and/or optimizing the performance of work processes. These four methods are

standardization, continual improvement, problem solving, and innovation. They are defined as

follows:

s Standardization: Actions taken to develop a single, value-oriented current reliable

method both for doing the work and for monitoring its performance over time (Silverman

and Propst, 1995)

s Continual Improvement: Action(s) taken to optimize a specific characteristic or set of

characteristics even though performance of the characteristic(s) might be acceptable to

the customer (Silverman and Propst, 1991)

s Problem Solving: Action(s) taken to remove an existing, specific, undesirable effect(s).There are two types of problems too much of something with a need to decrease or

eliminate (e.g., expenses, customer complaints, etc.) and too little of something with a

need to increase (e.g., sales, market share) (Silverman and Propst, 1991)

s Innovation: Actions taken to satisfy latent market wants and needs by actualizing new

(i.e., not currently existing) product/service, system, or market concepts (Silverman,

Propst, and Silverman, 1996)

Participate in Organization-Wide Systems

"Participate in organization-wide systems" is the only role that is a part of linkage-directed work.Examples of responsibilities that fall under this role include:

s Following the standardized organization-wide work process (e.g., purchasing of

materials, changing employee benefit or tax information, etc.);

s Participating on teams to study organization-wide processes;

s Collecting data on organization-wide work processes;

s Providing data on organization-wide work process effectiveness to appropriate parties;


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s Following organizational policies (note: these policies should be linked to the team's

work processes);

s Recommending policy changes;

s Participating in organization-wide training; and

s Assisting in organizational assessments, and quality systems and certification audits.

Participate in Organization-Wide Strategies

The role "participate in organization-wide strategies" is the only one that falls under vision-

directed work. Teams cannot perform this role unless the organization has a vision and

breakthrough strategies for the future. Examples of responsibilities that are included in this role

are:

s Collecting information on the external environment;

s Providing data on process capability as a part of an internal capability assessment;

s

Participating in the generation of breakthrough strategies for the organization;s Generating annual business plan activities based on the organization's breakthrough

strategies;

s Executing annual business plan activities; and

s Participating in ongoing reviews of annual business plan activities.

Manage Team Processes

"Manage team processes" is the second role that has an impact on and is impacted by the

organization's culture. The responsibilities that are a part of this role are best depicted by

Figure 2 (Silverman, 1992).

Examples of responsibilities that are included in this role are:

s Incorporating team theory into the team's work on an ongoing basis;

s Identifying the team's reason for existence (i.e., its purpose within the organization);

s Defining the membership of the team;

s Defining roles and responsibilities relative to working together as a team and meeting

management (note: roles and responsibilities within work processes are established in the

role, "manage the team's work processes");

s Establishing the team's ground rules and decision making approach;

s Working within the team's purpose, roles and responsibilities, ground rules, and decisionmaking approach;

s Involving all team members in the team's work;

s Creating an environment that promotes trust; and

s Evaluating the effectiveness of the team on an ongoing basis and making necessary

adaptations.


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TeamEffectiveness

Trust DecisionMaking

Involvementand Participation

Team Theory

Figure 2: How to Build a Team

A FEW CONSIDERATIONS

As stated earlier, the responsibilities described for each of the seven roles typically emerge

during Stages 3, 4, or 5 in the evolutionary sequence. However, there are some situations

where these responsibilities may not be given to each self-managed team. For example, if an

organization has multiple teams that perform similar work (i.e., branches of a bank) and the

work needs to be standardized between all groups, each team may not be able to indepen-

dently perform all of the responsibilities under "manage the team's work processes." Instead,

the leadership team responsible for supporting all of these teams may need to prioritize workprocesses for standardization and create cross-functional teams that represent each work area

to standardize the work.

If the organization does not have a vision and/or a long range plan for the future, its

teams will not be able to carry out the responsibilities that are a part of "participating in


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organization-wide strategies." In addition, several of the responsibilities within the role

"participating in organization-wide systems" would be more challenging to perform.

Finally, contractual agreements between employees and the organization may impact the

ability of teams to carry out a particular role or specific responsibilities within certain roles.

The details of these agreements need to be well understood by all individuals who will beinvolved in self-managed teams as well as those who will be supporting their work.

INTRODUCING SELF-MANAGED TEAMS TO YOUR ORGANIZATION

It is not unusual for several years to elapse between the time an organization decides to use self-

managed teams and the time they actually achieve this outcome. All too frequently organizations

expect results overnight without getting buy-in to the concept, redesigning organization-wide

systems that measure and reward performance (e.g., compensation), addressing how the work is

designed, and offering the required training and development opportunities to team members.

The following steps provide an overview of the groundwork that we have found to be necessaryfor establishing successful self-managed teams throughout an entire organization. These steps

assume that there is no prior knowledge of self-managed teams in the organization.

1. Orient senior management and union officials, if applicable. This step introduces the

overall concept and rationale for the change, relays the benefits others have achieved,

outlines the pitfalls that can occur, and obtains leadership (including union) buy-in and

support to engaging in exploration.

2. Learn more about how others are using self-managed teams. This step may require field

trips, readings, and personal interviews. At this step an organization could discover that

another firm that uses self-managed teams is willing to mentor it through these steps.

This mentoring may include ongoing dialogue and feedback, as well as upfront support.

3. Decide whether or not to proceed. Is the organization ready to move ahead with design

and implementation? If not, determine when it might be more feasible for the

organization to initiate these teams. If so, proceed to Step 4.

4. Establish the organization's architecture. From our perspective, organizational

architecture includes elements such as values, guiding principles, mission, vision,

infrastructure characteristics, and the components of the three streams of work (i.e.,

vision-directed, mission-directed, and linkage-directed work). This work is typically doneby senior management with input and feedback from others within the organization.

5. Educate all those who will potentially be affected by the change. This education needs to

include what is causing leadership to be dissatisfied with the status quo, their vision of

this change for the future, and an outline of the steps that will be taken to initiate self-


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managed teams. Pay special attention during this time to the needs of first line

supervisors.

6. Create a "self-managed teams PDCA task force." This task force needs to be composed of

individuals from all levels of the organization and be representative of the organization's

work. It is responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating this effort. Beforeproceeding, the task force needs to be oriented to all work that occurred in the previous

steps. Also remember that it is critical for first-line supervisors to be involved in all facets

of the task force's work, no matter what level of representation they have on the task

force.

7. Plan the implementation. This step includes:

a. Developing a detailed self-managed team structure. The task force first needs to

decide on the appropriateness of the seven roles. It may need to add or delete a role,

or tweak the titles of the roles to better match the organization's architecture. Then the

task force needs to describe specific responsibilities within each role that are

appropriate to the work of the organization, its ability to support self-managed teams,

the type of leadership advocated within the structure, the organization's definition of

each role, and the various stages of self-management. Finally, it needs to outline the

role of "team coordinators/coaches" that will support the self-managed team structure

that has been developed.

b. Assessing organizational systems. These include systems within human resources and

the financial management areas. All systems need to support the structure designed in

Step 7a.c. Developing the implementation plan. This plan needs to include training, organiza-

tional systems redesign (from Step 7b), time, resources, financial investments, etc.

Consider a variety of roll-out options such as pilot teams, phased-in conversion, and

total immersion.

d. Providing awareness training throughout the organization to set common expectations

and orient employees to the details of the implementation plan.

8. Implement the plan. Follow the implementation plan.

9. Evaluate the plan. There are two levels of evaluation. These are evaluation of the self-

managed team structure (including the redesign of organizational systems to support the

concept) and the evaluation of the implementation plan.

10. Decide who will monitor the ongoing performance of this effort. Once this has been

determined, the task force can be disbanded.

It is not unusual for it to take several years to complete these steps. A number of factors can

influence this timeline. Some of these are the size of an organization, the number of teams in the


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organization, and the stage of self-management of these teams prior to Step 1. However, many

organizations may realize benefits as early as Step 4.

INTRODUCING SELF-MANAGEMENT TO YOUR WORK GROUP

If your organization is not ready to embrace an organization-wide initiative, a team leader or

department manager can still move a team toward self-management. Here are some steps that

enable this to occur.

1. Determine whether or not anyone within the organization has expertise in developing

self-managed teams. Enlist the person's support. If necessary, seek outside help.

2. Orient the work group to the concept of self-management and to the roles presented in

this paper.

3. Collect information on those elements of organizational architecture that exist today (see

Step 4 in the previous section).

4. Assess whether or not the work group can function in all seven roles. For example, if theorganization does not have a vision or long-term strategic plan, it would be difficult to

carry out the role, "participate in organization-wide strategies." Use the information

collected in Step 3 as one resource in making this assessment.

5. Determine the responsibilities for those roles that survive Step 4.

6. Create an implementation plan that outlines the order in which the roles and

responsibilities will be integrated into the group's current work.

7. Implement the plan.

8. Evaluate the plan (see Step 9 in the previous section).

It is not unusual for it to take at least a year to complete these steps. A number of factors can

influence this timeline. Some of these are the size of the team, the type of work it does, the

degree of autonomy experienced by the team and its leader, and the team's stage of self-

management prior to Step 1. However, the team will realize benefits as early as Step 5.

We do not recommend taking this single team approach over the organization-wide effort.

However, sometimes senior leaders need results to stimulate their interest. A single-team

approach could be positioned as a pilot study. In most cases, it is important to communicate to

organizational leaders what the team is intending to do. However, sometimes asking for

forgiveness rather than permission is a better route to success.

USING THE MODEL WITH EXISTING SELF-MANAGED TEAMS

Because self-managed teams are not a new method of employee involvement, your team and/or

organization may have already made considerable progress in this area. So how can the model

presented in this paper enhance your existing efforts? One approach would be to evaluate your

current efforts against the seven roles and their respective responsibilities. This will help to


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identify pieces that might be missing. A second approach is to use the model to rejuvenate a

stalled effort. This would require an understanding of the organization's current architecture and

elements that might be missing from it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

While the jury is still out on the long-term impact and benefits of self-managed teams, one

cannot deny that employee involvement plays an important role in the workplace of the future.

As organizations struggle to survive and attempt to be agile, decisions about mission-directed

work need to be made as close to the customer as possible. To date we know of no other way to

obtain daily employee involvement andmove decisions closer to the customer without self-

managed teams.

REFERENCES

Bennis, W. and B. Nanus. Leaders:The Strategies for Taking Charge.

NY: HarperCollins,1985.

Development Dimensions International, Association for Quality and Participation, and

Industry Week. Self-Directed Teams: A Study of Current Practice. 1990.

Hirano, H. 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace. OR: Productivity Press, Inc., 1995.

Holpp, L. "Self-Directed Teams are Great, but They're Not Easy."Journal for Quality and

Participation, December, 1993, pp. 64 - 70.

Osada, T. The 5 Ss: Five Keys to a Total Quality Environment. Tokyo: Asian Productivity

Organization, 1991.

Pasmore, W. A.Designing Effective Organizations: The Sociotechnical Systems Perspective.

NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1988.

Pearce II, J. A. "The Company Mission Statement as a Strategic Tool." Sloan Management

Review, Spring 1982.

Schein, E. H. Organizational Culture and Leadership. CA: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers,

1992.

Shonk, J. H. Team-Based Organizations: Developing a Successful Team Environment. IL:

Business One Irwin, 1992.

Silverman, L. L. "Using Teams to Achieve Customer Satisfaction and Optimize BusinessPerformance." Workshop and participant manual, 1992.

Silverman, L. L. "Change ... at the Speed of Life: Challenging Our Current Paradigms."

Keynote address at the American Society for Training and Development Symposium,

Milwaukee, WI, August, 1995.

Silverman, L. L. and A. L. Propst. "Coaching Process Improvement Teams." Paper presented

at the 1991 American Society for Quality Control Fall Technical Conference, 1991.


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Silverman, L. L. and A. L. Propst. "8 Stage Approach for Developing a Current Reliable

Method." Workbook developed in 1995.

Silverman, L. L., A. L. Propst, and S. N. Silverman. "8 Stage Approach for Innovation."

Workbook developed in 1996.

Zawacki, R. A. and C. A. Norman. "Successful Self-Directed Teams and Planned Change: ALot in Common." OD Practitioner, Spring, 1994, pp. 33-38.

Special thanks to Jeff Gill, Manager of Organizational Development for Unocal Corporation, for

sharing his experiences with self-managed teams and his insightful comments on this paper.

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